<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Broken Bird by Broken_Clover</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29323149">Broken Bird</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Broken_Clover/pseuds/Broken_Clover'>Broken_Clover</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Guilty Gear</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Overture-Era, Sickfic, Somewhat Fluffy, Unhappy Ending, Whump</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:13:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,577</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29323149</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Broken_Clover/pseuds/Broken_Clover</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Being a political figurehead is a difficult job, but Sol doesn't realize just how taxing it is until he's more-or-less tricked into visiting his former rival.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dizzy/Ky Kiske, Sol Badguy/Ky Kiske</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Broken Bird</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A sort of collective gift to the Solky discord, I tried to include most if not all the plot details we discussed, but even if I missed something I hope you guys still enjoy it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sol didn’t like visiting Illyria. He hated every inch (sorry, <i>centimetre-</i> fucking Europeans) of that pretty white castle with its pretty white towers like it had been ripped right from a child’s storybook, with a bunch of oh-so-important politicians faffing about in its pristine halls in and out of meetings, with everyone in a hustle and bustle yet accomplishing absolutely nothing, with its toy soldiers poised at every corner and doorway, with their pretty toy king sitting on his pretty toy throne.</p><p>But Sol <i>had</i> to visit Illyria, because part of playing babysitter meant that once in a while he actually had to let the little ankle-biter see mommy and daddy (mostly the former), no matter how much of a pain in the ass it would be for everyone involved. So he’d sulk, and he’d seethe, in a way that made everyone who encountered him perfectly aware he hated every second and was best left alone.</p><p>“Go on, get lost.” He nudged Sin in the direction of his parent’s room. Yeah, maybe letting the physical equivalent of a five-year-old meander around a castle was a shitty idea, but Sol really couldn’t be arsed to drag him there. Sin knew the way. Besides, if he was there, then there would be all the awkward staring, the boring sterile chit-chat that did nothing but fill space and make the awkwardness worse, until Ky just-so-happened to remember some meeting or another that he had to attend to, and Dizzy made up a game on the spot for her and Sin to play together while the two men walked off in their separate directions. Just being here in the first place was a guarantee Sol would be miserable for some reason or another, he wasn’t jumping at the chance to make it worse.</p><p>He didn’t really know why he bothered to stand and wait around after Sin left. It wasn’t his problem anymore. He didn’t need to care about anything else but getting shitfaced and enjoying the rare free time he had. Nonetheless, he stayed where he was, leaning against one of far-too-many elaborately carved marble bannisters to pull out a cigarette. He knew Ky would flip his lid if he found him smoking inside, but the mental image almost made Sol smile. </p><p>“Old maaaaan!” Despite his expectations, Sin had come back, shouting at the top of his lungs and spinning his arms like malfunctioning pinwheels. “Old maaaaaan!”</p><p>Sol resisted the urge to swear. He took it out on his cigarette instead, biting down and burning it to cinders in a flash. “Whataya want, kid?”</p><p>“Old maaaaaan, mommy says she wants to talk to you!”</p><p>He couldn’t begin to wonder what for. They’d had few conversations over the past handful of years, not unpleasant but certainly not desired. Sol was perfectly aware he didn’t make good conversation. It was something he preferred. It meant people left him be and didn’t waste his time with paltry bullshit.</p><p>Still, Dizzy was one of the few people he could say something kind about, and since Sin wouldn’t shut up about it if he didn’t, he reluctantly scaled the stairs and followed the kid back to wherever she was. Though he’d dreaded every second of the short walk down there, he was more than a little confused to see Dizzy waiting for him all on her own, with Ky nowhere in sight.</p><p>“Mr. Sol!” Dizzy greeted him warmly. “It’s so good to see you!”</p><p>“Dizzy.” The man replied, managing to sound a modicum less unenthused than he normally was. “At least you’re doing good. Where’s the worse half?” He paused, before shaking his head. “Scratch that, I don’t wanna know. Kid said you needed me for something?”</p><p>She nodded. “Yes. Well, sort of. Ky needed to talk to you.”</p><p>“Seriously?” Sol glanced down at his charge. “Y’can’t tell the difference between your mom and dad now? I thought I’d managed to teach you <i>that</i> much…”</p><p>Sin huffed. “I can so! Mommy said- !”</p><p>“It’s alright, Sin.” Dizzy placed a hand on his head to calm him. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” She looked back at Sol. “I suppose I should have been clearer.”</p><p>The man didn’t try to hide his displeasure. “If you’d said that beforehand, I wouldn’t have bothered coming up.”</p><p>The woman cast an aside glance, and Sol’s not sure how to read it. “He had something he wanted to talk to you about. Didn’t tell me much, just that it was important.”</p><p>He gave an irate grunt. “Any reason he couldn’t just write me a damn note?”</p><p>“I- I asked, he said it was important you talked. He’s still up in his room right now. I’m really very sorry for the trouble.” She did sound genuinely apologetic, which meant Sol couldn’t have a good reason to even be frustrated. Then again, it hadn’t stopped him before.</p><p>“Ugh, fine.”</p><p>Of course he knew where the brat’s room was. Despite hating every moment he spent in Illyria, he still knew where Ky stayed. Not that he even made it back there, half the time. It wasn’t all that likely he’d be there when Sol arrived, but going anywhere else increased the risk of bumping into a politician or a guard who would inevitably raise a fuss, and he was already pissed off enough that anything else would mean that things would start exploding.</p><p>Sol didn’t bother to knock. What would Ky even be doing, anyway? He was too much of a self-righteous prick to get a mistress, so not like he could be walking in on that, and if he really was doing any actual work, he didn’t give enough of a shit to be polite. Go in, storm out. That was everything currently on his radar.</p><p>“Okay boy-scout, this’d better be good.”</p><p>The room was absolutely steeped in Ky’s smell, but the man himself was nowhere to be found. Sol pushed the floes of paperwork over, only to find nobody sitting at the desk. The bathroom was empty, the closet was filled with nothing but clothes, and when he pulled back the curtains, every window was sealed shut. No chance he had finally snapped and leaped out buck naked to flee into the wilderness, away from work and obligations.</p><p>(Hey, as someone familiar with it, Sol had to say it was a lot more fun than people tended to think)</p><p>At least the mental image of Ky losing his goddamn mind helped to stave off the frustration of being there in the first place. But back to that, where the hell was he??</p><p>It wasn’t like it should have been hard. Ky’s social life could politely be described as ‘sheltered as fuck’ and if he wasn’t in a meeting, he was working. Besides, why would Dizzy say he was in there otherwise? Had he stepped out to deliver some stupid fucking paperwork? To take a piss?</p><p>Without thinking to restrain himself, he nearly knocked the bedroom door off its hinges when he slammed it open. Sol was immediately hit with waves of a stench that he couldn’t initially name. It smelled like Ky, undeniably, but…<i>rotten</i>. Not like moulding food or old roadkill, but a more primal sense of rot that just told him something was terribly wrong.</p><p>“Kid?” He asked, almost sounding unsure of himself. </p><p>Sol could count on one hand the times he’d seen the brat actually in bed over the past few years. He could make some obscene joke about it, but he really couldn’t recall the last time he’d seen Kiske actually trying to sleep. Ky was a workaholic, plain and simple. But, hesitantly, he approached it anyway. There was a tangle of blankets on the bed, and it took Sol far too long to realize what he was actually looking at.</p><p>It was almost bloody picturesque, like a modern-day pieta of bedsheets and sweat. Ky was caught up in the twisting knots of cloth, limbs bent in every direction, with a bright-red face and pajamas plastered to his skin.</p><p>His acute senses meant he could practically <i>smell</i> the fever on him, if the shitty state Kiske was in wasn’t obvious just from a glance. Still, for the sake of being thorough, Sol brushed aside sweat-soaked bangs and pressed a set of ungloved fingers to his forehead.</p><p>“Christ.” Not just warm, <i>hot</i>. Of course Sol had felt hotter things, but this was definitely warmer than a human was supposed to be.</p><p>The more he stared, the worse it looked. The deep scarlet flush seemed to be the only color Ky had to him. Everything else was eerily pale and corpselike. Bruises dotted his arms and legs. What the hell was going on? This was all wrong. <i>Ky</i> was all wrong. Where there wasn’t pale skin there was shadow from the prominent bones pushing out. This wasn’t right. Ky was barely thirty, but the spindly limbs and face made gaunt from shadows in his hollow cheeks made him look decrepit and old.</p><p>Wait a minute, why was that? A fever was one thing, but how was he so spindly? That didn’t happen out of nowhere, but Ky wasn’t-</p><p>He wasn’t panicking, Sol told himself. This wasn’t panic. It wasn’t even worry. He just knew he couldn’t expect these political dumbasses to be able to handle anything, and he knew Ky more than almost anyone (enough to know that this was wrong this was wrong this was wrong <i>what the fuck was going on-</i>)</p><p>Large, calloused hands managed to undo the top buttons of Ky’s pajamas. Some part of his mind told him this was violating, but Sol was too stubborn. He couldn’t find it in him to find this remotely sexy, not with the way the bones were silhouetted under Ky’s skin every time he breathed. He almost winced at the sight of what seemed to be his collarbones threatening to burst free, stretching further from his shallow breathing. Transfixed, Sol brushed aside a triangle of satin to let his hand rest on the other man’s sallow chest. Though it wasn’t as visible through his ribcage, Sol could feel the heart beating uneasily right under his touch, separated only by papery skin, withered muscle, and brittle bone. He knew if he pressed even a little too hard, something would crack.</p><p>“Ky…” His voice unexpectedly softened. “...what the fuck happened to you?”</p><p>And how the fuck had Dizzy not noticed?! The unease in his chest suddenly turned to fire in his blood. Anger was an emotion he was more comfortable having, one that he knew what to do with. She was supposed to be his wife, the one person who knew more about him than anyone else. Hell, even if he was being secretive, how had she not noticed?! It was obvious, it was so obvious, and Dizzy wasn’t an idiot-</p><p>-She <i>wasn’t</i> an idiot. It had been on purpose, the revelation suddenly came to him. Dizzy knew. She was naive, but not a moron. That’s why she had called him over in the first place.</p><p>Sol couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of why she’d bothered calling him instead of addressing it herself, but he was already here, so what the hell was the point in asking questions that didn’t matter. The same went for however Ky had ended up looking like a walking skeleton. He needed to get his priorities in line.</p><p>“Kid?” He gave the man a tap on the cheek. “You with me?”</p><p>Ky hadn’t responded to being manhandled before, and he didn’t react to that, either. Not even a twitch as an eyelid was pulled back, to see nothing but the muddled dullness hidden underneath. Yeah, no, he was completely out of it. Sol paused to wipe the sweat off on his pants. Christ, the guy was filthy, when was the last time he-</p><p>A thought occurred to him. Sol scooped up the unconscious body and headed towards the nearest bathroom.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>++++++</p>
</div>For all his goddamn modesty, Ky still had some expensive tastes, if his personal bathroom was any indication. Even if the job wasn’t his choice, he had no doubt Ky had been thrilled by all the pretty marble. Sol was almost jealous. Almost.<p>It took a good minute or so of fidgeting with the dials until he managed to figure out how to get the bathtub working. At least Ky was still too thoroughly unconscious to make fun of him for it. He glanced over at the body slumped against the wall every so often while the tub filled with water. Sol flinched back as his fingers brushed the water, feeling it almost ice-cold against his skin. He moved to fiddle with the spigot again, but he ultimately found himself too impatient to wait for it to heat up on his own. He dunked a hand in the water, summoned a bit of fire magic, and let it radiate out until the bathtub turned lukewarm.</p><p>“Alright, pretty-boy, let’s not make this any more awkward than it needs to be.”</p><p>Sol wasn’t good at being gentle. Still, he at least tried to not rip his clothing to shreds. Hopefully Ky would be willing to forgive a few missing buttons and torn seams in exchange for not boiling to death in his own skin. He was too out of it to care much now about clothes, or dignity for that matter. Sol all but threw him into the water, catching himself at the last second to avoid accidentally cracking any heads open. Ky was too delirious to process much of what was happening, it was a fair guess he didn’t have the reflexes to respond to it, either.</p><p>He gave the kid some time just to soak and acclimate to the temperature. It was an odd sight. Ky was normally so uppity about his appearance, if not just for looking nice than for keeping clean at all times. Sol wasn’t sure if it was from growing up as a rich kid or from all their time out in the middle of the woods trying to get murdered by Justice and her armies permanently turning him off from not-bathing ever again. Either way, the greasy hair was an oddity, likely brought on by all the sweating coupled with no energy to get out of bed. </p><p>It felt so strange to see him so...lifeless. Ky barely moved as he spread some kind of hair product on the side of the bathtub into his greasy mop to try and clean it. The best he got was the occasional incoherent moan from dumping handfuls of water over his head to wash it back out. Having to look after Sin meant that having to help someone wash wasn’t a completely foreign concept to him, though it was still made difficult by the sheer difference in size, and the fact that he didn’t have feedback as he worked, either through frustrated wiggling or complaints that he’d missed a spot.</p><p>Or- perhaps he had made that call too soon. He noticed a smear of soapy water run down the side of Ky’s face and paint across his eyelids. Sol grabbed a towel and moved to wipe it away, but a shaking hand reached up to try and swat him back.</p><p>“Knock it off, kid, I-” Without thinking, his voice dropped into quiet again. “‘m just getting it out of your eyes. Siddown.”</p><p>Surprisingly, Ky actually complied. He gave a few weak moans that Sol couldn’t discern, managing to crack open one eye and stare out with a milky slit.</p><p>“Sol…?”</p><p>“Congrats, y’remember my damn name.” He replied, feeling some sort of relief at hearing his voice, but refusing to admit it. “G’morning, princess. Looks like you overslept.”</p><p>“Over...I over-”</p><p>Ky’s eyes snapped open, or at least as far as they could go (which really wasn’t much). Sol was more concerned by what followed, as the man jolted up in place, sloshing bathwater everywhere.</p><p>“Guh, Kiske, what the fuck- ?!”</p><p>“I’m late, I’m late, I overslept and I’m going to- !”</p><p>Despite being drenched, and being very pissed off about being drenched, he managed not to choke the life out of Ky or drown him in the remaining bathwater as he wrestled the sickly man back into the tub. </p><p>“-you’re gonna sit your ass down, is what you’re gonna do.” Sol growled, trying to keep Ky from wriggling in his grasp and soaking him further. “I don’t give a damn that you’re sick, Kiske, I’m still gonna kick your ass if you don’t sit it down.”</p><p>Ky hesitated for a moment, which was just long enough for him to lose momentum and for the force of whatever was attacking his system to hit him like a train. Sol at least had the decency to keep holding onto his wrists while he sank into the last of the bathwater.</p><p>For as visibly exhausted as he was, Ky was still able to summon a bit more pink to his cheeks upon noticing the compromising position he was in. “Why...why are you here?”</p><p>“Depends on what you mean.” Sol grunted back, taking a few more moments before letting Ky go to make sure he wasn’t going to lose his goddamn mind again. “If you’re wondering why I’m in Illyria in the first place, I was dropping off your little brat. If you’re wondering why I’m wrestling your stupid ass, it’s because your wife’s a tricky bitch and basically made me do it, so if you’re gonna whine about it do it to her.”</p><p>“I-I’m...I…” Ky still seemed hopelessly confused, undoubtedly from a mix of the fever and all the information being thrown in his face all at once. Though at one point in the conversation, his brow creased. “Wh- wait, what did you say about my wife?”</p><p>Sol rolled his eyes. “Kid, you’re focusing on the wrong thing here.”</p><p>“You can’t just <i>say</i> something like that-”</p><p>“Ky, will you shut the fuck up and listen-”</p><p>“She’s my <i>wife,</i> I <i>love</i> her-”</p><p>“Yeah, I’d hope so, seeing you got her pregnant.” The Gear snapped, thumping a fist on the side of the tub. “But I’m still the one up here wiping the dandruff and spit off your face, so I think I have the right to be a little pissed off here.”</p><p>Ky flushed pink again, looking down at himself. His breath was shallow and wheezing, occasionally turning into jagged little coughs. Eventually, he wrapped arms across his sunken chest, and bent his legs in an awkward attempt for more modesty than the few inches of water and lingering bubbles managed. All in all, it made for a pitiful display that, despite himself, had Sol reaching for a wet rag to clean him again.</p><p>“Jus’ hold still.” He said, running the rough cloth across the man’s shaking shoulders. He dialed up his internal temperature until he could feel the water evaporating out of his soaking clothes. “At least you managed to sit still while I was washing all the shit out of your hair.”</p><p>Ky gave a little muffled murmur, curling up tighter.</p><p>“How’s that?”</p><p>No response. Sol wanted to roll his eyes, but once again he found something dampening the vitriol. Not like a few harsh words would kill him, not even in this state- but Ky probably felt enough like a miserable pile of shit that it made for punishment enough.</p><p>Instead, Sol gave a weary, frustrated sigh. “When’s the last time you ate something?”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>++++++</p>
</div>Ky hadn’t answered that either, of course, but that combined with his slight frame was more than enough of an answer for Sol.<p>“Drink it.”</p><p>Ky was still bleary-eyed and feverish, but he was at least coherent enough to object to being fawned over. Not that it stopped Sol, he knew Ky was the sort of person who would be willing to keel over sooner than admit he was dying if it inconvenienced anyone. Maybe that’s what Dizzy had considered when she dragged him into this nonsense. He was one of the few people on earth that was as stubborn as he was.</p><p>He watched Ky tremble in his bathrobe, eyes nervously flicking back and forth between Sol and the teacup in his lap. </p><p>“It’s just tea, Kiske. Not poison. Hell, didn’t even put any drugs in there, even though I totally should have. D’ya know how much you’re sweating? You’re gonna shrivel up at this rate if you don’t drink something.”</p><p>Ky still didn’t seem convinced. But Sol didn’t let up, and continued to stare to hammer in the fact that he wasn’t in any mood to negotiate. It had been something of an exaggeration, but he was still pretty sure there was more water dripping off his half-clean hair than anywhere else. A cup of tea wasn’t going to magically cure his fever, but it sure as hell wasn’t going to hurt.</p><p>Sol grumbled, slouching in his seat. “Why are you fighting me over this?"</p><p>“‘m not, ‘m not trying to, I-”</p><p>“You what?”</p><p>The man looked sheepish, if not especially apologetic. The trembling grew more pronounced, making the fabric slide off one bruised, spindly shoulder.</p><p>“Jesus fuck, Ky, I-” Sol tried to take a deep breath and level his tone again. It didn’t come as easily as it had before, so he busied his hands instead by reaching over and pulling the man’s sleeve back into place. “Just- just, please. Humor me. You’ll feel a lot less like ass if you’ve got fluids in you.”</p><p>Ky still looked evasive, but he gave a trembling little nod. As soon as he tried to lift it off his lap, though, the cup rattled against the saucer from how badly his hands were trembling under the weight. A few drops managed to escape in the process, mostly managing to land in the dish.</p><p>“Okay, okay, stop. Stop what you’re doing.” Sol rubbed at his temples, as Ky let the cup rest on his lap again. “That bad, then. Jeez, kid, this kind of shit doesn’t show up overnight, how long have you been running on fumes? Did none of these shit-for-brains politicians notice? Fuckin’ hell, did you ever even <i>say</i> anything?”</p><p>Once again, the man didn’t reply, but the look of utter humiliation he wore was enough of an answer, and Sol didn’t need to know anything more.</p><p>With a sigh, he reached out to wrap his hands around Ky’s, slowly lifting it up to his face so he could drink.</p><p>Ky looked mortified. “‘m sorry, I-”</p><p>“Stop.” He replied. “Just drink the tea.”</p><p>Even in his state, Ky knew better than to argue. He took a moment to adjust himself, and started on the tea in quiet little sips. </p><p>“Don’t matter if it takes ya a while.” For a moment, Sol’s low, growling voice almost became a calming thrum. “Just as long as you drink it.”</p><p>Sol’s eyes drifted down, landing on the open triangle of skin that showed off Ky’s naked torso and the bones beneath his skin. This was one of the most fucking <i>pathetic</i> things he had ever seen in his life. Not Ky himself, but the fact that none of these morons had even seemed to notice. Did they really have their heads shoved so far up their own asses to give a shit and not notice the goddamn obvious?</p><p>Ky’s hand moved underneath his. He took that as a cue to pull the empty cup from his hands and the plate off his lap to put them on an abandoned side table. Ky watched him with an almost reproachful look in his eye, as though this were some elaborate trick being played on him.</p><p>“Why...are you doing this?”</p><p>“Because you’re sick, you fucking dumbass.” Replied Sol. “And because it sure as hell doesn’t look like anyone else can be assed.”</p><p>The man recoiled, eyes going wide. His mouth fumbled around a handful of half-formed words, eventually creaking out a few comprehensible ones.</p><p>“Oh. I...thank you.”</p><p>“Pfft. I guess you really <i>are</i> sick, if you don’t have enough energy to make a damn speech about it. Alright, sleeping beauty, let’s get your ass back in bed. Where d’ya keep the clean sheets in this glittery hellscape?”</p><p>Ky had fallen asleep in his chair long before he’d managed to find new pillows and blankets. It made for a much shabbier display (for as little a shit as he gave, and for as much energy Ky could have had to whine about it) but he figured it was better than wasting all that time hosing him down only to toss him back into soaking-wet sheets covered in spit and hair grease. Just his luck that the future hadn’t managed to reinvent laundromats yet, but he assumed they had people employed to keep the place clean, so Sol didn’t have many qualms about just dropping the dirty sheets in the corner. Maybe it was kind of a dick move, but at least <i>they</i> got paid for cleaning up around the damn place.</p><p>“Sweet dreams, you…” Sol attempted but failed to think of an insult. He simply pulled the sheets up on Ky’s unconscious body, and brushed the bangs out of his eyes again. In his slumber, Ky leaned into his touch, and, once again against his better judgement, Sol paused for a spare moment to rub a thumb against his cheek.</p><p>It was fine that he couldn’t muster up any annoyance in the moment. Because he knew he was going to need most of it elsewhere.</p><p>Sin was elsewhere when he found Dizzy again, and frankly, Sol was glad about that. Sin could be an annoying little shit, but he didn’t want him to be around for this.</p><p>“M-mr. Sol!” Dizzy greeted him as he stormed up. “You’re back! Um, did you and Ky take care of your, uh, business?”</p><p>“Yeah, despite your best fucking efforts.”</p><p>She recoiled, making it clear she knew exactly what he meant. Her thick black tail moved back and forth in slow, nervous strokes. “I-I-I know, I know, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do this-”</p><p>“Look. I get it, okay? Weird circumstances and shit, I get.” He threw up his hands, yet still looked no less livid. “He’s king of half the damn world, shit happens. But I’m not your fucking housemaid. Don’t keep dropping your personal shit on me for me to clean up for you.” Sol paused to take a breath.”And don’t you ever pull shit like this again. If he’s that sick, call a real doctor. Sure as hell looks like he’s needed one for a while.”</p><p><i>”I know.”</i> Dizzy said, with more force behind her tone. “I couldn’t- I didn’t know what to do…”</p><p>“Well, sitting and doing nothing was real damn helpful.” Sol knew it was a low blow, but he was too pissed to care. “Get a real doctor to look at him, I’m a goddamn <i>bounty hunter,</i> not a miracle worker. Illyria’s rich and a king’s gotta be paid well, you’ve gotta be able to afford one.”</p><p>She nodded meekly. “I-...I will, I promise.”</p><p>“Hey, no need to promise <i>me</i> anything, he’s not <i>my</i> husband. And I’m not sticking around to see how this goes. I’m out.”</p><p>“W-wait! But Sin’s still-”</p><p>“He’s your problem for the next couple days.” Sol growled over his shoulder, storming off towards the grand front door. “This family’s squeezed too many fucking favors out of me.”</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>